36 



HORTICULTURE, 



January 12, I90t 



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ANNOUNCEMENT 



We have opened a WHOLESALE COMMISSION FLORISTS' DEPARTMENT in addition 

 to our regular wholesale HVERGREtiNS and FLORISTS' SUPPLIES 



CONSIGNMENTS SOLICITED 



HENRY M. ROBINSON & GO. 



8, II and 15 Province St. 

 p and 9 Chapman Place, 



Boston, Mass. 



See our Greenm Advart Isoment on page 70S. L. D. Te/epAone, Main 2B18 



OUR CREDIT SYSTEM: ITS USES 

 AND ABUSES. 



By S. S. Skldelsky. Read before tlie Flor- 

 ists' Club of I'liiladelpUia Jau. 1, 1907. 

 I deem it an honor as well as a 

 privilege to address you upon a sub- 

 ject that, it seems to me, has never 

 received the consideration it merits, 

 either at the hands of our numerous 

 florist clubs or of our national society. 

 It is no exaggeration to assert 

 that there is no body of men, 

 more honorable, more honest and 

 straightforward than our florists. 

 It is a noteworthy fact, one scarcely 

 requiring any proof, that during the 

 panic of 1893, when business condi- 

 tions were most deplorable, when the 

 stringency of the money market and 

 the general stagnation and business 

 depression were most appalling in 

 their consequences, when the profes- 

 sional calamity howlers and the un- 

 scrupulous demagogues aired their 

 theories to their hearts' content, 

 thereby adding fresh oil to the already 

 kindled fire of fear and discontent, 

 when the so called "first laws" of self 

 preservation began to assert them- 

 selves in a manner that brought dis- 

 aster and financial ruin to many a 

 business house, our florists, as a body, 

 be it said to their everlasting glory and 

 credit, put their shoulders to the wheel 

 that much the harder, never thinking 

 of joining the procession of bankrupts. 

 It is an actual fact — and I challenge 

 anybody to disprove it — that there 

 were less failures, in proportion, 

 among the florists, either compulsory 

 or otherwise, than among any other 

 body of business men. I could easily 

 name a number of florists, who during 

 these memorable dark days, saw fit to 

 deprive themselves and their families 

 of things generally considered as 

 absolute necessities, in order to meet 

 their obligations. 



Men capable of such self sacrifice, 

 men possessed of such moral stamina, 

 of such business integrity and honesty 

 of purpose need not hesitate inscribing 

 their names upon the roll of honor. 

 Perhaps Pope had some gardener 

 in view when he said that "An honest 

 man is the noblest work of God." Of 

 course, there are exceptions, but of 

 these later. That much for our 

 honesty and business integrity. Can 

 we claim as much for our business 

 methods, or, to be more exact, for our 

 credit system, as compared with that 

 of other progressive business men? 

 Hardly. While it is true that we are 

 keeping pace with the times in many 

 other respects, while we are advanc- 

 ing steadily and uninterruptedly along 



lines of general progress, increasing 

 our facilities, modernizing our stores 

 and our greenhouses, improving our 

 products, while we have been exchang- 

 ing views and opinions as to the best 

 methods of marketing our products, 

 going even so far as to touch upon the 

 ideal employer and employee, it has 

 never occurred to us to consider 

 seriously the means and ways and the 

 best methods of modernizing our 

 credit system. A question of moment- 

 ous importance to our own interests, 

 strange to say, seems to have escaped 

 our attention. Viewed from whatever 

 standpoint and whatever arguments 

 we may bring to bear upon the subject, 

 it is undeniably true that our credit 

 system is in its primitive state, lack- 

 ing those sound fundamental princi- 

 ples which are at the base of every 

 sound financial or industrial institu- 

 tion. It is said of the late Marshall 

 Field, the merchant prince of two gen- 

 erations, that his first step, at the 

 very outset of his brilliant business 

 career, was to establish a sound credit 

 system. A rule from which he never 

 deviated and which, perhaps more 

 than any other factor, was responsible 

 lor and contributed so largely towards 

 his colossal fortune, was to collect his 

 outstanding accounts and to meet his 

 own obligations upon . maturity. 

 What is true of Marshall Field, the 

 merchant prince, holds equally true 

 of John Smith, once upon a time the 

 struggling market gardener, whom we 

 now see making rapid strides along the 

 highway of progress. The reason? 

 Easily explained: "I pay as I go," 

 says Mr. Smith, "and in order to be 

 able to do this, I collect all my ac- 

 counts promptly". Simple enough in 

 itself, yet a rule of this sort seems to 

 constitute the cornerstone, the very 

 foundation of one's success. 



"To pay as one goes" does not im- 

 ply, however, spot cash transactions. 

 Such a modus operandi is no longer 

 tenable under our present business 

 conditions. Nor is credit as such, to 

 be despised or condemned on general 

 principles. On the contrary, credit 

 well regulated and judiciously used is 

 a blessing and a privilege that can 

 scarcely be overestimated. Were it 

 not for this privilege, I venture to say, 

 there are many among us to-day who 

 should never have achieved the suc- 

 cess they enjoy. How often do we 

 hear of the man, who in years gone 

 by had made his first start in life by 

 building his first little greenhouse on 

 a paltry few dollars, borrowed from 

 either friend or shark, stocking it with 

 a few geraniums and other truck, ob- 

 tained on credit from some reputable 

 establishment or other? If we trace 



the history of the successful florist of 

 to-day, we can see at a glance that 

 credit has in a large measure con- 

 tributed towards his success. I say 

 "in a large measure" advisedly, be- 

 cause other qualifications, such as hard 

 work, perseverance, will power and 

 energy, were of equal importance as 

 a means to his successful business 

 career. 



I reiterate — credit is a privilege that 

 is not to be despised by ciny business 

 man, no matter how conservative in 

 his enterprises or how determined to 

 steer clear of debt. Broadly speaking, 

 it is credit, inspired by confidence and 

 backed by enterprise, that is respon- 

 sible for the remarkable development 

 of our natural resources — the wonder 

 of the world. It is credit inspired by 

 confidence, that is accountable for the 

 prosperity which we enjoy to-day. 

 Credit has been the means of launch- 

 ing many a successful industry, giving 

 employment to hundreds and thou- 

 sands of men; credit has been the 

 means of enabling many an individual 

 to stem the tide of adversity and to 

 rise to affluence and wealth. The 

 struggling market gardener of a few 

 jears ago should have never perhaps 

 become the successful grower of to- 

 day if it were not for that blessed 

 privilege— credit. I will go further and 

 say that credit has been the means 

 whereby most of our modern, mam- 

 moth greenhouse establishments have 

 come into existence. 



Credit, coupled with hard work, 

 energy and business integrity, has 

 made it possible for the enterprising 

 man of to-day to achieve his success 

 in much less time than it took the 

 florist of a generation ago by the slow 

 "pay as you go" process in its literal 

 sense. We are progressing so to 

 speak, in a geometrical ratio, by leaps 

 and bounds, as it were, no longer satis- 

 fied to let "well enough alone", no 

 longer content, like the immortal 

 Micawber, to wait until something turns 

 up. We must create our own oppor- 

 tunities and we are doing it to our 

 heart's content, thanks to that blessed 

 privilege— credit. It there is anything 

 to be turned up we are generally in- 

 clined to take a hand in the turning 

 process ourselves. We seem to real- 

 ize that faint heart never won success; 

 hence fear and hesitation no longer 

 keep us in check. If we are deter- 

 mined to "get there" it is seldom in- 

 deed that we fail in our object. 



But all good things have their limi- 

 tations, and what is beneficial or 

 wholesome in some cases often pro- 

 duces the contrary effect in others. 

 Assuming that credit, well regulated 

 and judiciously used, is a privilege. 



